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Free Transit & On-Street Parking Restrictions Continuing Tuesday

Posted: March 23, 2015 - 1:00 am

Monday, March 23, 2105 (Halifax, NS) – The Halifax Regional Municipality is advising residents that free Halifax Transit bus and ferry service will be extended to Tuesday, March 24, to help alleviate the inconvenience of not being able to park on the street.

The municipality has been working with Halifax Regional Police and Halifax RCMP to enforce Section 139 of the provincial Motor Vehicle Act, which governs all on-street parking during snow removal.

Those parking restrictions will continue on Tuesday; however, officers are using discretion when ticketing and towing, keeping in mind that many streets have been widened considerably in recent days, businesses need to accommodate delivery vehicles and residents have engagements to attend.

Police and Parking Enforcement are specifically targeting parked vehicles that create a safety hazard, impede snow operations or make the road impassable for other cars, including emergency vehicles.

With schools expected to resume classes tomorrow, there will be heavier traffic, including school buses on the roads, and parked vehicles would make driving and access difficult, particularly in residential areas. Staff will reassess tomorrow afternoon to see if road conditions and ongoing clearing operations require the parking restrictions to continue.

We want to thank residents for abiding by these restrictions over the last few days. We would also encourage businesses in areas where the streets are still narrow or snow removal is underway, to consider adjusting delivery times for loading and unloading to avoid peak traffic periods, wherever possible.

Motorists are advised to allow more time to travel to their destination and to slow down and keep an eye out for pedestrians, as high snow banks and poor visibility are causing problems in some areas.

Crews have been working day and night since Thursday to open up 3,800 lane kilometres of roads, including residential side streets and cul-de-sacs. Stretched end to end, that’s the same distance as driving from Halifax to Winnipeg. Over the past five days crews have hauled away more than 15,000 dump truckloads of snow — that’s enough snow to fill the Scotiabank Centre 1.5 times.

Work continues to clear the almost 1,000 kilometres of sidewalks and 3,600 bus stops across the region. On main route and residential sidewalks, crews are focusing on opening up walkways on one whole side of the street and punching out bus stops and crosswalks on the other side. As well, crews are making good progress with opening up the sidewalks around schools and the feeder sidewalks connecting to them, to ensure a safer commute for students. Work will continue over the coming days to complete all sidewalks.

For more information on snow clearing operations and impacts to municipal services, please visit www.halifax.ca/snow.